Bitcoin retreated over from the near-record highs reached last week, with the start of the decline seemingly influenced by progress towards a Gaza ceasefire.
The grandaddy cryptocurrency is down 4.3% to $66,860 over 24 hours, with almost the entire slide coming just around 3am London time, when reports emerged that the United Nations Security Council had adopted a US-led resolution that urges Hamas to accept Israel’s latest hostage-for-ceasefire proposal.
Gold prices also retreated around the same time, though the yellow metal picked up during the European session but crypto markets have not.
Financial markets generally in a risk-off mood, with Tuesday proving a tough session for riskier assets in Europe, in the wake of European Parliament elections.
Neil Wilson at Markets.com pointing to French-German bond spreads hitting their widest this year on "rising fiscal and political risk premia".
Elsewhere, Cantor started coverage of the bitcoin mining sector with 'overweight' ratings across the board.
Iren and CleanSpark scored best on six-point ranking scale by analyst Brett Knoblauch, ahead of Riot Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:RIOT) Cipher Mining, with Hive Digital and Bitfarms (TSX-V:BITF) in the rear.